Hitch could be Clear Lake's red-legged frog

The recent request to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to list the Clear Lake hitch as an endangered species has drawn nationwide attention. Newspapers on the East Coast and in the Midwest carried the story. On the local scene, fishermen and businesses are concerned that it could have a major impact on the county's economy and the fishing in Clear Lake.

According to the 58-page petition submitted on Sept. 25 by the CBD, the reason for the decline in the hitch population in Clear Lake is because of a number of factors, including spawning stream degradation, low lake levels and the predation by other fish in the lake. The petition specifically points to largemouth bass, saying the bass take a heavy toll on the hitch. Their recommendation is to control the population of the bass by encouraging catch-and-keep by fishermen instead of catch-and-release.

Clear Lake is known for its high catch-and-release practices among the bass fishermen. In fact, all the bass tournament organizations and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) require all bass be released after being weighed in during a tournament. Up to 500 bass will be caught and released during a typical tournament, and with more than 60 tournaments scheduled on the lake for any given year that means approximately 30,000 adult bass would be permanently removed from the lake.

The problem is that no one knows what a healthy population of hitch is. Is a million a good and sustainable population, or should it be 200,000 or even 10,000? Actually, we don't know what the present population of hitch in the lake is. There have been unscientific studies on the number of hitch that migrate up the streams to spawn but even these counts are not based on scientific methodology.

When is a species considered endangered? According to the Federal Government, a species is endangered when it is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range; when it has such low population numbers that the species is at risk of extinction; where the population of a species is so dangerously low that its gene diversity is adversely affected and there is a risk of the species being wiped out all together, usually the consequence from human gain.

The question is does the Clear Lake hitch fit that description? Most of the fish in Clear Lake are classified as an "introduced species" and that includes largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, catfish and carp. All but the carp are considered predator fish, meaning they survive by eating other fish, including their own species. In fact, their population goes up and down depending on the their food source and habitat.

In nature, food is the engine that drives the train. If there is a sufficient food source any species of fish can quickly overpopulate. As the food source dwindles the fish population responds by producing fewer fish. Biologists will tell you that it only takes a few adult fish to sustain a healthy population. Typically a female fish will deposit thousands of eggs but only a small percentage will hatch, however, the percentage will be enough to sustain the population.

As for the plankton-eating hitch, their survival also depends on suitable streams where they can spawn and the availability of food, which is various species of plankton. One solution would be to maintain the major spawning streams and do accurate counts on how many hitch successfully spawn each spring. As for a food source, the biggest competitor for the hitch for the plankton is the silverside minnows, which are in the lake by the billions. They were placed in the lake years ago to control the Clear Lake gnat. Removing the silverside is nearly an impossible task.

No one wants to see the Clear Lake hitch disappear from the lake. They have been here for thousands of years and are vital part of the ecosystem. However, if the hitch is declared endangered there will drastic measures imposed on those who live around and use the lake. Weed removal could be ordered to stop. There would be no control of hydrilla and other invasive weeds. Boating could be curtailed as well as fishing.

Upper Blue Lake is a good example. A few years ago the Biological Diversity Center had the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) halt all stocking of trout in the lake because they said the endangered red-legged frog lived in the lake. The DFG spent more than a $100,000 to prove the frog wasn't and had never lived in the lake. The trout stocking was resumed but many of the local resorts at the lake nearly went out of business. Similar things could happen at Clear Lake. We don't want the hitch to become the red-legged frog of Clear Lake.